Details

We made most of our beans with a silicone mould, but as they are not easy to find, we experimented with the Ikea mould pictured below, and they worked a treat. Just cut the strips into Jelly Bean sized slices, and round off the edges. Of course if you don't want rounded edges, small pieces of Brites for MP coloured confetti soap pieces look just as great.

Step One: Well ahead of time make your "Jelly Beans" using Non Bleeding Brite or Liquid Dispersion Colours. Prepare if trimming down slices. Sort these into separate colours

Step Two: Dice 900g of the Aloe or Clear Soap Base. Place into microwave proof jug, lightly cover, and melt the soap in microwave on Low or in a double boiler (or use cooktop on LOW). Scent the soap and stir through the Fragrance well. Pour 1/2 cm into the loaf mould and allow to set up. Keep this jug in a warm place to avoid it skinning over whilst waiting. If it does start to set, gently re-melt.

Step Three: Once firm, spritz a handful of Jelly beans liberally with alcohol until quite wet, then place carefully into the mould on the layer of soap. Spritz the surface and beans on the soap, and carefully pour sufficient Aloe Soap over the Beans to cover. Spritz with Alcohol to remove bubbles. Don’t breathe the fumes as they are ick, and don’t worry, that smell quickly dissipates and won’t affect your fragrance or finished soap.

Step Four: Allow this layer to become fairly firm before continuing to layer beans. Each time, spritz the beans liberally, arrange in the mould, and then pour over the Aloe Soap - gently reheat the aloe if required.

Step Five: Continue layering until you have filled the loaf mould. Allow to set for 6 hours or so, overnight is fine. Then carefully slice.

Don’t forget to wrap the slices in Cello Bags or sheets.

You can also make confetti style loaves by mixing the soap embed pieces, instead of using colour co-ordinated layers.

Note: I fragranced each colour a different fruity scent, but you can fragrance the beans all with your preferred fragrance. I didn't use Sugar Plum Fairy Fragrance (Jelly Bean) as it has a small vanilla content and I didn't wish the soap to have a slight discolouration over time.